I know it may be a bit OT for this forum, but I thought that this is where it would have the best chance of being answered.

I noticed that the fare from NYC to EWR on NJ Transit is $11.45 OW. That includes a $7 "facility charge" for de-boarding the train at EWR. I also noticed that the OW fare to Elizabeth (the next stop on the line) is $4.45. Is there anything to stop a passenger from buying a ticket from Penn Station to Elizabeth, but then getting off at the EWR station?

One would think that NJ Transit would put something in place to thwart such a maneuver by travelers, but you never know.

I appreciate any insight.

My thought - $4.45 to Elizabeth plus $7 = $11.45. When you get off of the train, you have to pass your train ticket through ticketing gates to enter EWR. There is no way around this. If you do not have a ticket, as happened to me once when the conductor did not collect my ticket and I wanted to save it, you will have to pay the fee right there. So, I think that the difference in price is just the $7 fee.

EDIT: CozumelJen already answered the question.

I thought that the fee was $5 to access the monorail system if you don't have a ticket, but I could be wrong. For my money, the $11.45 that I pay for the AirTrain is such a good deal compared to the $45 that a cab costs me to get to EWR/JFK or the $25 to LGA that I'm not complaining.

[This message has been edited by aparsuites (edited 04-02-2002).]

I took the train a couple weeks ago. You have to swipe your ticket (train not airline) to pass through a turnstyle before you can board the monorail to the airport.

You have to pass through the same turnstyle on the way back, so you can take the monorail to the transfer station without a ticket, but you can't leave unless you pay.

Unfortunately no getting around paying. I found that my trip took appriximately one hour to get back to Penn station from the terminal.

The best way to beat the "high" cost of AirTrain Newark is to take the #62 New Jersey Transit bus from Newark International Airport to Newark Penn Station ($1.00). From Newark Penn Station, you can catch a PATH train to Manhattan for $1.50.

I wouldn't recommend this at rush hour, as the traffic can be really bad from the airport to Newark Penn Station.

If you are a NJ Transit commuter to NY Penn Station (as I am) and have a Monthly pass from almost anywhere in NJ (on any line) to Penn, you can use that pass for the NJ transit part of the airtrain.

Essentially that means that you only pay the $5 fee to use the airtrain, as you've already paid the rest of the trip on a monthly basis.

In this case, the service is worth it.

(BTW - my monthly pass is now $154 after the April 1st increase. This is not a cheap solution for those who do not already need a pass.)

[This message has been edited by NJDavid (edited 04-03-2002).]

A legal way of beating the system (before the fare hikes) was to buy a $6.75 ticket from EWR to NWK and another $2.50 ticket from NWK to NYP. That came to $9.25 as opposed to the $11.25 for buying a single ticket EWR to NYP. I haven't seen the new fares yet, but I'll be back up there next week and see if this loophole still works.

I'm pretty sure that there was a 10% increase on NJT for the commuter routes.

I sent an email to NJTransit asking if I could use my monthly pass (NYP-Madison, 11 zones) to get to EWR as well. Their reply:

Dear Customer,

You may use your monthly pass to travel to the Airport Station. Once
you get
off at the airport station, you will need to pay the $5 access fee to
get past
the fare gate to the monorail.

We hope this information is helpful and thank you for your patronage.

Sincerely,

NJ TRANSIT Customer Service Department

I guess the access fee has gone up from the $5 they mention above to $7.

I thought the $5 fee was not actually NJTransit's fee, but the monorail-link fee. I was not aware it went up.

This may be a dumb question, but at least I admit to such things. I too have a NJ Transit monthly but not on the Northeast Corridor line but on the Midtown Direct Morris & Essex Lines. I wonder if that monthly will be honored on the NJT part of the trip even though I'm on a different branch. I do go daily way past Newark Broad Street if that makes a difference.

So I guess my question is whether a NJ Transit monthly must be a monthly on the Northeast Corridor route alone or can it be on the Midtown Direct line? Anyone know?

I do this twice a week.

The fee to get to the Air Train is $5, and its an airport fee. You are stuck on the platform unless you pay it.

I buy a 10 trip ticket between NY Penn and NJ Penn for $2.50 per trip. When the conductor comes by again after NJ Penn I tell him/her I am going to EWR ($1.60 extra). I then pay the $5 air train fee at EWR (or you will not be able to get through the gate) for a total of $9.10.

At the EWR Air Train station hit code 099 to buy your $5 exit ticket, this code works for both exit and entrance at the Air Train station (I buy an extra one when I leave EWR so that I have it when I return to EWR so I do not have to spend the time buying a ticket at the Air Train kiosk which may result in missing the next NYC train).

Even if you do not do this as often as I do, the above will still work with a single NY Penn to NJ Penn $2.50 ticket, as I receive no discount for my 10 trip purchase.

With the $2.35 you save one way, you can buy me a beer some time :P


[This message has been edited by Joey (edited 04-03-2002).]

The monthly pass can be from anywhere in the NJT Rail System, so long as it covers a sufficient number of NJTransit zones, then it will get you to EWR.

I take the MidTown Direct trains, too (from Madison), which is why I emailed NJTransit to see if they would honor it on the AirTrain - and per their reply above they will.

[tangent topic on]
Incidentally, you can use your monthly pass to go anywhere on NJT Rail and only have to pay the difference between the zone on your pass and the zone you are traveling to. Further, you won't have to pay the $5 "buy on the train penalty" either. I do this in the summer time when I catch a Coast Line train out of Hoboken to Spring Lake - I only have to pay an extra $4 or so - and sometimes they don't even bother collecting that.
[tangent topic off]

I was on the AirTrain this past Monday, and the fee was still $5.00 with no signs talking of any change/ increase.
NJDavid- you are getting off cheap! My NJ Transit fare just went up to $203 monthly into NYC
On another note, lately I've found the AirTrain going from EWR to the train station to be subject to delays. On three separate trips (out of EWR) in the past week, I've had to wait anywhere from 5- 15 minutes for the next train. This despite the fact that the trains runing to the parking area were running on time!!

Does this also work coming back from EWR to NY Penn Station. Do you just tell the conductor you got on the train a stop early?